Are you ready?

In my younger days, I was sympathetic to the “Keep Christ in Christmas” crowd who always seemed to come alive about this time of year decrying the secularization and commercialization of Christmas.  Yet, on reflection, I realized that Christmas has, for some time now, been irreversibly transformed into both a religious and a secular celebration.  Furthermore, I realized that many of my most cherished Christmas traditions – watching Bing Crosby in “White Christmas”, enjoying Ralph’s travails in “A Christmas Story”, reading “The Night Before Christmas” to the kids, or crooning along with Nat King Cole on “The Christmas Song” – “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” – have absolutely no mentions of our Savior’s birth at all!

So, if Christmas for many people is nothing more than a time to exchange gifts, kind wishes and peace with others, is there not some good in that?  And since the church is always jammed to the rafters come Christmas Day, have we really lost the religious nature of Christmas?

On the other hand, in the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the big celebration, Advent has suffered.  With our focus on shopping for the perfect gift, planning the Christmas feast, trimming the tree and decking the halls, and partying with family and friends, we can lose sight of the all that we should truly be preparing for during this holy, yet often slighted, season of Advent.

Advent is a time to assess and reflect on three comings, or advents, of the Lord.  We meditate on how deeply grateful we are for the first coming – the birth of Jesus some two thousand years ago; on how joyful we are at the second coming – the present coming of Jesus to be in relationship with us this very day; and on how eager we are for that final coming – either at the end of time or, more likely, the end of our own time here on earth.

As I reflect on these advents, I wonder how much I really get – in my heart of hearts, my gut of guts – what happened two thousand years ago.  Do I really get the infinite bounty of a God who “loved the world so much, he gave his only Son?”  Do I really get the absolutely unconditional nature of God’s love and mercy that “while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us?”  If so, why do I seek more when I already have the infinite; why do I always feel less loved when my actions seem to deserve scorn?  If I really, really got this, why am I not more grateful – radically grateful – as Mary Jo Leddy describes in her book, Radical Gratitude?  Maybe I’ll do better on the second Advent?

So, how’s that day-to-day relationship with Jesus thing coming?  Jesus died for me, but he also rose again.  He is alive and comes to me at every moment of every day, desires to be with me, desires my intimacy.  Without accepting this, I am lost.  As Cardinal George – God rest his soul – stated, “Without a relationship to Christ, doctrine is just ideas and morality is only rules.  Relationships give life.”

Have I nurtured this relationship in frequent, daily prayer?  After all, what good is relationship without intimate and regular communication?  Have I availed myself of the sacraments – those times when Christ is especially present to us – in his own Body and Blood at the Eucharist, and faced directly with his boundless mercy in Reconciliation?  But the acid test is how my relationship with Christ has transformed my relationships with others – as Jesus insists it must – “Love God with your whole heart, your whole strength, your whole soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

How do I treat every other person, who – like me – is created in the image and likeness of God; for whom, like he did for me – Christ became man and died to save; who – like me – is loved by Christ with infinite and unconditional love; who is like me in every important respect and unlike me in mere incidentals?  Do I ignore these people, or worse, wish perdition on them, or do I love them as Christ loves me?

Even on my best days, it never takes me much more than thirty seconds to realize how far I fall short of the demands of Christ.  And that bring us to the final advent reflection – how ready am I – how eager am I – to be faced with the final reckoning?  Not much, I’m afraid.   I gain a whole new appreciation of the “fear and trembling” with which St. Paul says we must work out our salvation. 

And that is the key to the season of Advent, for it gives us time to reflect on what keeps us from truly appreciating and being thankful for what God did for us some two thousand years ago.  It gives us time to reflect on what keeps us from entering into the intimate relationship with Christ that transforms all of our relationships, that gives life to our faith.

And when we do that, when we put our failings and shortcomings before the God who loves us so dearly, who wants to forgive even our most grievous sins, when we seek His help to remove the stumbling blocks we have placed before us, we are ready.  We can join the angelic host in full throat, filled with absolute joy come Christmas Day.

Have a most blessed, reflective, and holy Advent.